


Easy

by yeaka



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 00:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12158064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Can Sephiroth boil an egg?





	Easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pt_tucker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pt_tucker/gifts).



> A/N: For pt_tucker. No one else has to read this nonsense.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy or any of their contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Angeal’s still sweating, and if it was his house they were ducking into, he’d probably offer everyone a towel. But then, Sephiroth and Genesis, even though they worked each other to the bone, don’t seem to be in nearly as bad shape as him. Still, this wasn’t a VR round—it was _real_ , every last bit of it, and Angeal can feel every bump and bruise to his very core. 

He’s still laughing with them, pleased at the release, as they wander through the sprawling living room of Genesis’ expansive manor. As Genesis thickly exhales, he sighs, “That was a good one—although the scenery leaves much to be desired. I think I prefer knocking Sephiroth off his pedestal—and by that, I mean off the highest mountain I can find in the program.”

“Poetic to the last,” Sephiroth muses, with only a slight roll of his eyes. “But need I remind you that you _lost_?”

“This round,” Genesis concedes. “But you won’t be the golden boy forever. Sooner or later, I _am_ going to find something you’re terrible at.”

Sephiroth’s casual smirk doesn’t fade: languid and unworried. Genesis’ eyes are smoldering, but that’s nothing new. Angeal’s just glad they all left their swords in the doorway. Sometimes they get a little _too_ worked up through these things.

They move next through the kitchen, and Genesis pauses there to open his fridge, foraging about for something or another, while Angeal leans his heavy weight against the counter. He could go for a rest, but they’ve work to report to. They sparred too long again. While Genesis seems to yearn for the power to conquer all in his way, sometimes Angeal thinks he’d just like the power to rein his two friends in—they’re too good for their own good. 

Head halfway inside the fridge, Genesis offers, “Either of you want anything?” But Sephiroth just shakes his head, and Angeal doesn’t think his stomach could keep anything down at the moment. Genesis mutters, “I just want a quick snack for the way back.”

“We could pick a couple dumbapples on the way,” Angeal suggests.

But Genesis shakes his head. “I want some protein... maybe a hard boiled egg?” There’re a few sounds of the fridge’s contents rustling, and then Genesis straightens up again, tossing an egg right across the kitchen without a word of warning. Sephiroth deftly catches it, managing the impossible once again—the egg shows no signs of cracking. As though he never expected otherwise, Genesis shuts the fridge and ventures, “Boil it for me while I go change?” He doesn’t wait for a response, just turns and saunters off towards the stairs, and the walk-in closet next to his bedroom that could fit Angeal’s entire ground floor inside.

It leaves Angeal and Sephiroth alone in the kitchen, and Angeal notices, as he turns to share a _look_ with his friend, that the smile’s fallen off Sephiroth’s face.

He just stands there, still as a stone, with the egg clutched delicately in his long fingers. After a moment of silence, Angeal asks, “Is something wrong?”

Sephiroth opens his mouth, but nothing comes out, and he only closes it a second later. There’s something distinctly _off_ about his frown. Angeal moves forward anyway, trying two cupboards before he finds the pots—maybe that’s what Sephiroth had trouble with. Fishing out the smallest one, Angeal passes it over, but Sephiroth only gives it as strange a look as the egg.

Genesis would probably tease: _What? Never seen a pot before?_ But Angeal holds his tongue. They’ve never been to Sephiroth’s place, and for all Angeal knows, Sephiroth _doesn’t_ have pots. Because Sephiroth, Angeal’s noticed in several other subtle ways, doesn’t have a number of things that Angeal considers ‘normal.’

So Angeal quietly asks, “Have you ever boiled an egg?”

Sephiroth looks at him. There’s a look of vulnerability there that Angeal doesn’t take for granted—he knows that whatever comes out of Sephiroth’s mouth next, it’ll only do so because they’re _friends_ , and by now, Sephiroth must trust him. Sephiroth admits, “I... don’t believe I’ve ever had such an occasion to do so.” And he looks actually _puzzled_ about it, as though he himself can’t imagine how he ever reached such an age without that knowledge.

Going down that rabbit hole won’t do them any good now. Sephiroth’s past is a mystery, too intertwined with ShinRa, and Angeal’s not sure he wants to delve into that here and now. So he just comes over to collect the egg from Sephiroth’s tentative grip, and he offers, “I’ll do it. It’ll be our little secret.”

He gives Sephiroth a comforting smile. Sephiroth’s frown stays firmly in place, but he tells Angeal, quiet and sincere, “Thank you.”


End file.
